


Grains of Sand

by Katreal



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, I promise, Related shorts, will eventually reach a plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-07 09:05:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5451086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katreal/pseuds/Katreal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time marches onward even after the destruction of the Maverick Wars. Those who witnessed it stayed quiet and faded away, guiding hazy human memory and technology down a different path. Yet still, relics remain, waiting for the right person to discover them.</p><p>The right person was NOT supposed to be Professor Wiley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“Ah! So it does still work! I doubt the imbecile lied about the age--especially not after stealing from a SciLab sanctioned  dig site. BOMBERMAN! Get me a copy of the artifact's records and then destroy the original data--I don't care how.”_

Voiceprint partial match to archive. 63% - Wiley A. Priority Alpha. Initiating  rvck.485 protocol--

Safeguard activated. Scanning...

Process blocked. Communication failed. Error: Critical Data damaged. Running internal repair processes—estimated time: unknown.

Internal repairs failed. Nanites unresponsive. Running diagnostic. Warning: Power relays ruptured. Switching off unessential systems. Assistance needed—rerouting available power to distress beacon, frequency – 91.20X.

No response. Scanning for usable transmission relays. Resending in 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

_Wha—Who's there? How did you get this frequency?_

Response achieved. Preparing diagnostic reports. Immediate aid requested.

_“Hmm, it seems to hold an internal reactor or some kind. Nothing like the short-lived fragile trash gabcom and ICP are churning out. This could be useful. Truly an amazing find, and it all belongs to this Wiley-sama!”_

_Wha—Zero! Zero—where are you!?_

...Zero. Information matched partial data. He was Ze—

“ _This—yes—this could be perfect. Once I find the ultimate program, I shall need the ultimate shell for it. After all—why stop at ruling the cyberworld?”_

WARNING! UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS! INSUFFICIENT ENERGY LEVELS FOR DEFENSIVE COUNTERMEASURES.

_What’s going on?! Zero—answer me!_

X—I—

The virus. Hell no was he going to let someone screw with that.

_Zero!_

All system lock-down initiated. Encryption process engaged.

And then it unraveled into nothing and he was lost again.


	2. Chapter 2

Netto stumbled out of his room, exhaustion and sleep clinging to him, but the pressure in his bladder drove him forward. _Toilet…toilet…_

Rockman’s quiet snicker had Netto shooting an annoyed look at his PET from the door, the soft light from the screen wasn’t even more than a blur of color from this distance. But the presence of the noise reassured him. Rockman was _safe._ He was _here._

After…Pharaohman…he hadn’t dreamed he’d see his navi again. It was all thanks to his papa. He may not be around much, but he always seemed to come through for Netto. First Rockman himself. Then the long sword chip. And then…

… _papa?_

He heard voices from downstairs. The light was on.  But he could hear his mother’s soft snores from down the hall. Papa wasn’t talking to Mama. Netto squinted at the clock in the hallway, the glowing display resolving into blinking numbers. 4:17. Papa had a flight tomorrow. Today. What was he doing up?

Toilet forgotten, Netto crept toward the top of the stairs.

“I didn’t know you were back in Japan, Uncle.”

_Uncle?_

“Only for a little bit, but long enough to hear about what happened in the finals. Is everything okay?”

The voice sounded oddly familiar. But not like he’d heard _it_ before. Just…similar.

“Somehow…” Papa sounded _tired._ Of course he sounded tired. He’d gone through today just like the rest of them. “We were lucky Blues managed to find Rockman before it was too late.”

A chill gripped Netto’s chest. Enzan had glossed over that, and Netto had been too wrapped up in Rockman being _alive_ to care about pressing him about it.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it would have been needed so soon. “

“It _shouldn’t_ have, Uncle! You know that. What I—what I wanted to use that frame for. Unless you’ve made a breakthrough in your research, it was far too soon to expect it to be finished.”

“Unfortunately, the only person with the mechanical knowledge to create something like that…”

“Is one neither you, nor I want to meet. I know.” Netto inched forward more, slipping down one stair, and another. Drat. They weren’t talking in the hallway like he’d hoped. Did Papa sound…bitter?  His father, even under the great stress of Pharoahman’s impending disaster…had always had a smile on his face. “He also died last night when Pharaohman destroyed the base. Such a _waste._ Father always said Wily was brilliant.”

 _Wily!?_ What the heck did Grandpa have to do with that maniac?

“Can’t…you do it?” Papa almost sounded pleading. “Given you are…you know.”

“Basic repairs, maybe.  But building a proper chassis from scratch?” A pause. Netto crept down another stair. “I’m sorry Yuuichi. But the technology isn’t there yet. I’m a philosopher, not a physicist. I wasn’t built for that. You’d likely finish your own research before humanity reinvents a strong enough portable reactor.”

“Just promise me, Uncle.” Damn. Footsteps. Netto scrambled back up the stairs. His view from the landing was much more limited, but he was also less likely to be seen. “ _Promise me_. Even if I don’t live to see it—”

They stopped near the edge of the stairs. Netto could see his father’s back and head, but nothing of this mysterious uncle. But then a hand settled on his father’s shoulder, a bright blue glove, vanishing into a darker blue jacket sleeve. Netto approved of the color. Of course his uncle would have good taste.

“One way or another, Saito will be able to live.” The hand on his father’s shoulder squeezed, and then withdrew quickly. “Don’t worry. Even in the incomplete state, it’ll work. I’ll get some materials to you later about what to expect from the new frame. It’s…structured differently…”

Footsteps again. Curiosity trumping caution, Netto inched forward, trying to see as they walked passed the foot of the stairs toward the front door—

Only to shrink back immediately. Burying his face in the wooden floor. Heart pounding in his ears.

The brief glimpse hadn’t been what he expected. The other voice had sounded…much like his father sounded to Netto. Warm. Caring. Comforting. He’d been expecting an older relative, perhaps with some grey peppering their hair.

Not…a young man. At _least_ half his father’s age. Bright green eyes burned into his memory, ringed by a fringe of black hair. _Damn_ the face even felt familiar. Close, but not quite.

And Netto knew. He didn’t know how he knew, but he _knew_ he’d been seen by that quick glance up into the darkness. _Damn._

He heard the door open. And then close. Netto scrambled to his feet. Papa would be heading to bed now—he probably shouldn’t be here unless he wanted to be caught eavesdropping. Assuming “Uncle” didn’t mention it.

But first. Given the fading excitement, the pressure returned full force.

_Toilet._


	3. Chapter 3

Packing. Packing. Netto hated packing. Which was why he had decided to _not_ pack at this very moment. His flight wasn’t until tomorrow anyway.

His room was a disaster. Clothes thrown _everywhere._ Shirts spread out on his bed. Pants on the floor—but _not_ covering his battlechips, which he was currently going through and checking one by one for any wear or damage. He might have to stop by the Higure-ya before he left to stock up—who knew what kind of opponents he would face in other countries? At first he’d been kinda neutral on the round-the-world trip that was bundled in with the Second Place prize package, but the more he thought about it, the more exciting it seemed. He was even humming as he flicked through the battle chips—a much practiced motion—imagining the great battles he was going to face.

“Netto—gah!” The muffled thump broke the thread of his song, and Netto dissolved into giggles.

“Netto!” Rockman’s exasperated shout rang out again, “ _Why_ are there _boxers_ hanging on my PET?”

“Sorry, sorry!” Somehow, even amongst the laughter, he managed to get himself up off the floor and across to his desk. Rockman was eyeing the blue fabric warily as Netto removed it, tossing it carelessly over his shoulder to land somewhere in the vicinity of his bed. He flopped into his office chair, letting the swivel turn him toward the glow from his PET as he began slotting his chips back into his holster, “So. Did you find anything?”

Rockman muttered something that Netto couldn’t _quite_ catch—Which meant the navi had purposefully muted the speakers—but after a quiet sigh he shook his head, “No. Your papa doesn’t have any living relatives as far as public records show. Are you _sure_ he called him _uncle_?”

“I’m _positive.”_ Netto might have been tired, but he’d remembered clearly. It had been such a _weird_ occurrence. “Could it have been family friend? Maybe?”

“That’s a lot harder to track, but I can’t imagine Papa calling anyone younger than him, Uncle.” Rockman sighed, “I just wish you could have taken me at the time. I could have gotten a better description than ‘young, looks kinda like you, has good taste’”

“I _was_ going to the toilet.” Netto muttered in defense. It wasn’t like he’d _known_ there was anything strange going on until he’d already been halfway down the hall.

“Anyway.” Rockman moved on, “Why don’t you just _ask?_ Papa flew out this morning, but mama might have an idea. It’d be easier to get a lead from her than to send me digging through newspaper articles.”

“Good idea!” Beaming at his Navi, Netto snagged his PET from the docking station. It took some borderline acrobatics to cross the space—a fact that had Rockman muttering and shaking his head again. It only made Netto bristle. Hey, he’d clean it up. Once he finished packing. Eventually.

Anyway, he found Mama in the kitchen, rearranging the contents of the cupboards as she hummed along to a wireless radio. She always seemed to try and keep herself exceptionally busy after Papa’s visits. “Mama?”

“Yes, Netto?” It was almost an afterthought, before she paused. Blinking. “Shouldn’t you be packing?”

“It’s fiiiiine!” Netto waved a hand dismissively at the notion. Irritated. He would do it. _Later._ “I’m just taking a break.”

“Oh. Well. Did you want a snack then?” She brightened. Mama loved baking, and loved forcing people to eat it even more. Netto didn’t mind. Mama was a good cook. “I have a batch of cinnamon rolls cooling.”

Mmmm… that _was_ tempting. His stomach growled. She giggled at him.

“Maybe later.” He decided reluctantly, “I actually came down to ask a question. It’s about Papa.”

“Oh?” Now he had her full attention. It just wasn’t like him to turn down immediate food.

“Do we have any relatives on his side? He mentioned an uncle while he was here, and I realized I didn’t know anything about the extended family.”

“Uncle…uncle…” She mused, putting a finger to her lips thoughtfully, “I know _I_ have a brother—not that we talk much anymore. I don’t think your father had any siblings…”

“Not _my_ uncle. His uncle.”

“Oh! He must have meant Alexander!”

“…Alex…ander?”

Such a _weird_ name.                        

Mama nodded, “He’s from Amerope—many people still have English names there – ah! Rockman! Could you be a dear and head into the photo albums for me? I think we have a picture somewhere…”

Netto shared a glance with his navi, but withdrew the connecting cable and fit it into the jack on the radio. Rockman dissolved into bit of data, streaming out of the PET’s screen. While most appliances were locked down to prevent tampering— _especially_ after Fireman’s spree of arsons earlier in the year—the entertainment network was fairly open, and Rockman had all the access keys anyway. It was only a short time until a message popped up on the screen. “Which ones Mama? He says there’s dozens.”

“Hmmm…try the wedding photos. Papa had to guilt him into attending even though he was the best man.” She smiled fondly, “He was always so polite! Just really uncomfortable in social settings.”

“Is this the right one Mama?” Rockman returned to the PET, forming a tiny window between his palms that widened as he moved them further from each other. Netto turned the PET so his mother could see.

She squinted and leaned forward before smiling widely, “Yes! Could you send it to the monitor for me?”

“Got it mama!” Netto grinned at his Navi and they both laughed. Netto disconnected the PET from the radio and crossed the room to the small monitor on the wall across from the table. It often played the morning news as he was running out the door late for school. Today it was dark. A snap and the PET cable fit into the input jack, Rockman opened a tiny window on the PET screen and balled the photo data up before tossing it through.

The monitor buzzed, turning on with a faint click and the hum of working electronics. The not-quite black screen flickered for a moment before the image came up, full sized.

“My…we were so young then weren’t we?” Mama mused to herself, crossing the room and reaching toward the monitor as if to touch it. But she ended up pulling her hand back. “This was what…twelve years ago? Thirteen? My my…”

The center focus of the picture was on the couple of course, but that wasn’t what Netto was looking for. He was scanning the people in the background. Twelve years ago, given who he’d seen last night… they would likely be his age. Maybe a little older. Why had his dad chosen a _kid_ as his best man?

“Here he is!”

And Netto stared where her finger was pointing. He looked uncomfortable in a suit, rather than a casual blue jacket, as if trying to hide in the press of people around him. Granted, Netto had only gotten a glimpse last night—but this was _impossible._

Same face. Same messy hair. Same height. Same older than a child but not quite _old_ features. _Exactly the same._         

People just didn’t _do_ that.

“He looks too—young!” He blurted out, realized that he wasn’t supposed to have seen this person, and then added, “To be Papa’s uncle, I mean. Aren’t they older?”

“They aren’t technically related, I think. I never did get a good answer about that.” Mama responded after a moment of thought, “It might have been a joke that stuck. Anyway, if Papa was talking about an uncle it was probably, Alexander. They still work together occasionally, even if he is hardly ever in Japan anymore. Alexander Light is one of the leading experts when it comes to…oh pish…what was it? I’m afraid much of the techno-babble goes over my head. Alexander would just blush and laugh whenever Papa brought up work. ‘I’m really just a philosopher, honest.’ “ She shook her head with a smile. “Other than that, I’m afraid our only remaining relatives are my brother and a couple cousins on my side. Did that help clear things up?”

“Yes! You’re the greatest, Mama!” Netto gave her a tight grateful hug, before pulling away and heading back toward the door, “I’m gonna go work on packing again then! Thanks!”

He took the stairs two steps at a time, just as his mother yelled up the stairs after him, “I’ll put aside a cinnamon roll for you!”

“Thanks mama!”

The door to his room shut behind him. He looked down at his PET. Rockman’s green eyes met his. “Well?”

“ _Exactly the same.”_ Netto hissed, “That was the man I saw last night!”

“That’s i _mpossible,_ Netto.” Rockman frowned, “I saw the metadata on that image. It really was taken before you were born.”

“I _swear_ it was!” He knew what he remembered, dang it. “I may have only gotten a glimpse, but I _know_ that face!”

Rockman sighed. Netto scowled stubbornly, “Okay. At least we have a name and face to work with. I’ll go run a search. As long as you get your packing done before I get back!”

“Rrraaagh. Fine.” The boy huffed, perhaps slamming the PET into the dock with more force than he intended. Then he spun to face the messy room.

Dang it. He didn’t _want_ to pack.


	4. Chapter 4

“Ah! Netto!”

The N1 Grand-prix runner up wasn’t hard to spot in the airport’s crowd—the blue and orange sticking out like a sore thumb despite his height disadvantage. The boy skidded to a halt at the sound of his name—running a hand through his wind mussed hair, “Commander Beef! Aaah—what are you doing here—I’m laaaaate—”

“Calm down boy!” The Net Agent barked, a fond grin trying to ruin his schooled and _very_ serious expression. He wasn’t here as the goofy fishmonger, but the extremely cool and suave and _mysterious_ Commander Beef. “If you’d look at the clock, you’d see you have at _least_ half an hour until boarding time. You can afford to breathe a little.”

“ _Half an hour?!_ ” Beef winced—even through his helmet that almost reached screech status—and the boy whipped out his PET to glare at his Navi, “You said I had ten minutes!”

“Would you have left when you did, if I hadn’t?” Netto didn’t have a response to that, just let out a strangled sigh and gave his innocent navi a glare. Beef just watched, amused. Those two had a relationship he’d never seen _anyone_ have between netnavi and operator. Even with Sharkman—who Beef _did_ consider a friend despite his civilian identity’s public ignorance of anything technological—they worked more like partners than… _siblings._

Yes. Siblings. That was a good term for it. Bonding, fighting, teasing and all included. The only thing they lacked was a good tussle every now and then.

Commander Beef cleared his throat, deciding enough was enough. Netto blinked, as if he’d forgotten already, “Oh right. Did something happen?”

“I’m actually here to ask you that.” A glance left and right, keeping a wary eye on the ebb and flow of the travelers as they moved through the terminal. He was getting some looks—but were they suspicious ones? Or were they just in awe by his presence? Better safe than sorry. He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and half-led, half-dragged him through to the hall. To a deserted niche between the men’s bathroom and the escalator. “Did you two…do anything last night? Skullman reported he saw Rockman running around last night. Suspiciously.”

Which in itself wasn’t damning—Skullman found _anything_ unusual suspicious. But combined with the fact that they’d lost contact with the team investigating Wily’s lair…well, Beef wouldn’t put it passed Netto and Rockman getting dragged into the middle of it. They seemed to end up involved with almost any incident involving the World Three.

“Last night?” Either Netto had gotten much better at lying, or he was legitimately clueless. “I was packing. Rockman was looking for—”

Definitely not lying, considering how he suddenly clammed up. Glancing down at his PET. Rockman’s sigh was audible, “No real need to keep it a secret, Netto. I _was_ running around last night, because I was trying to track down Alexander Light.”

“Doctor Light?” _That_ egghead? He was even more of a recluse than most of SciLab’s collection of geniuses. He’d gotten the memo that Light was in the country – of course the Net Agents would keep tabs on the foremost AI specialist in the world—but how would _Netto_ know about that? And most interestingly, _why_ did he care?

A blink. “You know him, Commander? Papa uh—left something for him.”

“Of him. He’s worked with us before.” Professor Hikari had, huh? Beef eyed the suddenly interested boy from behind his visor. He felt like there was more to the story than that. “Unfortunately, Doctor Light flew out to Amerope early this morning. If you are lucky, you might be able catch him on your trip.” He saw the curiosity rise in Netto’s face, almost saw him mustering his stubbornness to drown Beef in questions… So he glanced at the clock. Casually. “Speaking of— _now_ you have ten minutes.”

“ _Daaaaamn it!”_ Netto’s shrill shriek made him smile. Successfully distracted. He waved cheerfully at the retreating cloud of dust and disgruntled airport patrons as the boy barreled through the crowds toward the security gate.

Netto’s interest in Doctor Light was odd, but if it kept him away from the troubling events at Wily’s fortress, Beef would take it.

He glanced once more at the nearby surroundings, before pulling out his PET. Sharkman didn’t have to ask—he soon had the window open, “Miyu-Miyu.”

Miyuki’s image on the screen rolled her eyes at the codename, “Yes, Commander?”

“The bluefin wasn’t in the reef. Something else tore the net.”

“Tore the—is this really necessary Captain?”

“You never know who could be listening!” He hissed back, “Any news on the damage?”

A series of keystrokes echoed through the PET’s speakers, “The secondary explosion revealed that…the damage to the structure itself was far less severe than we thought—perhaps even deliberately designed to collapse in the way it had. Several more chambers were revealed by last night’s explosion, one of which was a medical bay. Sir… We might have to…consider the idea that Wily is still alive. Injured, but alive.”

“I never believed otherwise.” Beef grinned, “Remember Miyu-Miyu—when it comes to slimy eels like Wily, they are never gone unless you can pick your teeth with their bones.”

“…I realize you like fish metaphors, sir. But sometimes they can be rather disturbing.”

Beef waved his hand vaguely, dismissing the notion. His metaphors were perfect. “What about the team sent in to survey the data? Any sign of them?”

A head shake. “I sent Skullman in to poke about—HQ is loathe to send in more until we figure out what happened. Everything seemed normal but…Skullman said something feels…hungry. It even makes _him_ anxious. He doesn’t want to go back onto the network.”

Hm. “Perhaps some sort of security measure. Have them quarantine the equipment. Class 9 firewalls. Whatever it is, we don’t want it leaking out. Especially if it’s some sort of virus. Sharkman and I will look into it when we return.”

She blinked slowly, “Return?”

“I’ve been hearing disturbing reports from the seas surrounding Jawaii. I was…asked to investigate.”

“…of course sir.”

The fact that he’d overheard young miss Ayano’s plan to bring along Miss Mariko wasn’t a factor in it at all. Of course not. He wasn’t thinking about the lovely teacher in a swimsuit. Not at all.

Humming to himself, Commander Beef had Sharkmon end the call, and soon Masa the fishmonger would be setting sail for warmer waters.


	5. Chapter 5

The beast was there. Waiting. He could hear it growling through the cavernous space. Prowling. He couldn’t see it, but he knew it was there. It always was. He’d first woken to its heavy breath on his neck, days ago. He could _feel_ its hunger. Once sated by the lives it had devoured, slowly begin to rise again.

Yet it only stalked. Never hunted _him._ Others hadn’t been so lucky.

Beings. Like him, but not. He could still hear them scream.

Gold edged black gauntlets tightened into fists beneath his cloak. He raised his hand, the cloth slipping aside as he beckoned to the bits of data that flooded the area with every incorporeal step the beast took. It hungered always. _Hunting_ him. But it missed the most important piece of this place. Where it moved, the beast ate away at the surroundings, corroding the ground and leaving deep pitfalls into nothingness, loose data swirling everywhere like thousands of stars.

A patch of stars swarmed to him, fluttering around his outstretched palm.

Fractured information flitted through his mind, bits and pieces of this world he’d found himself in, becoming _one_ within him. Growing and strengthening him with each byte... And yet…

_Why._

He didn’t know why.

Who _was_ he?

Why was he here?

And…

The beast howled. He tilted his head to the sky.

A dark shadow. Shifting. Incorporeal. And _hungry._ It was watching him. Thrumming with power.

Something within him _wanted_ that power. Wanted to reach out and shackle the beast—tear it to pieces and absorb it just like he had the stars…

But that same part told him to wait. If he tried now…it would be the one to eat _him._

So he ignored the gaze drilling into his back. He turned, and left.

The beast wouldn’t leave the access point. It waited for the food that would never come. He hoped it waited for all eternity.

The inner depths of the servers weren’t quite as ruined. And they were quieter. Whole. Spared the beast’s corrosive touch. That meant there was less free data remaining for him to consume, but it was worth the slim pickings to be away from the beast’s looming presence. One day, he would figure out how to break down the data _himself._ Then he would no longer need the beast.

One day, he wouldn’t _need_ anything.

Time meant nothing here in this cavern of rocky floor and endless space. Of empty halls and constant, distant howls. He wandered the pitiful landscape of his home. Searching. Maybe something here held his answers.

Here _was_ where he was born, right? Here was where he’d awoken, in the shadowed embrace of the beast. It’s passing had worn a groove in the ground. It hadn’t been strong enough yet to eat through the landscape entirely then. There _had_ to be something.

Anything.

Until he found _it._

Something red against the grey.

A crystal. No bigger than his palm. Fractured, cracks running through the once smooth facets. Red bits of data leaked from the cracks.

He knelt. Loose data meant he could absorb it. He reached for it, fingertips brushing the largest crack—

 _Something_ grabbed him. The red data swirling around his gauntlet. Something was different.

He waited. Waited for the broken bits of knowledge to filter through his mind. Waited for the strength to be added to his own.

But…it didn’t.

The crystal glowed brighter, the data dancing angrily. He tried to pull away, but found he couldn’t move. It was growing hot. Almost scalding to the touch. Red cracks wound their way through black armor, glowing just as hot as the crystal itself. Higher and higher they stretched. He couldn’t see them beneath his cloak, but he soon _knew_ they were reaching for his emblem. His core. He felt like it was tearing him apart. Bit by bit. This wasn't right!  _He_ was supposed to be the one to--

_Scan initiated._

And then he knew no more.

x-x-x

 

_Emergency protocols activated._

_Template aquired._

_Reformatting critical data to fit new template._

_Estimated time remaining: 48hrs_


	6. Chapter 6

“So…why are you _here?”_

Enzan glanced up from his sundae, eying the other boy across the table. Netto had hardly changed—still blurting out every inane thing that crossed his mind. Not that it’d been more than two weeks since the Grand Prix. Not everyone was constantly traveling the world, being expected to pull off impossible contracts. Enzan forgot that occasionally. At least during this last one with Ms. Millionaire had been more interesting than most.

“I thought you would have been happy, considering we had to pull you two out of trouble.” Enzan rolled his eyes, resting the spoon against the half empty bowl and folding his hands on the table.

“No—yes—I mean—we could have dealt with the snake lady on our own. I mean _here.”_ Netto waved animatedly, indicating the cheerful, sunny situation of a quaint café on a side street. Netto’s friend Yaito would like the cakes here, Enzan considered. Perhaps he should suggest Netto send her one. “Here in Amerope. Weren’t you flying out as soon as I came in? Isn’t that why _we_ got roped into the mayor’s stupid ceremony?”

Enzan sighed. “I am not here on the sightseeing trip, Netto. I’m traveling for work. I didn’t have time to entertain a politician’s attempt at propaganda.”

“You could have at least warned me.” Now he was pouting. Enzan eyed the boy’s empty bowl. Maybe if he ordered him another sundae Netto would shut up again. He’d seemed quite happy when it’d still been full.

“Netto…He _did._ ”

Rockman’s exasperated sigh came from the PET propped up on the table. Sometimes Enzan felt sorry for the navi. Rockman had potential—he’d thought so from the start. It had been _Netto_ that Enzan felt was holding the team back. At least until he’d seen them in the training room, slotting in the program advance over and over again.

Childish and reckless, maybe. Not the most knowledgeable about chips and their synergies. Netto didn’t even have a decent chip collection until _after_ receiving the Grand Prix prize pack from Higure-ya.

But…he was determined, Enzan would give him that.

“ _Yeeeaah,_ but not very straightforward about it!”

“My…apologies.” Enzan muttered, carefully weighing his pride versus a pleasant conversation. “I didn’t much want to insult the _mayor_ to his face. I thought you were smart enough that a quiet recommendation would suffice.”

“Oi!” Netto bristled, but Enzan ignored him as Rockman calmed him down handily. Quick to bristle, but also quick to forget it after being offered something else to chew on. It was almost refreshing after fencing with politicians and investors.

“It all turned out for the best, Netto. We wouldn’t have met Thunderman and his operator otherwise!“

“I know, I know. That was a _fun_ battle! They might even be as strong as you, Enzan!”

Enzan couldn’t help the smirk at the subtle jab. “Not if they lost you you, Mr. Runner up.”

A mild glare, plus a mumbled, “We didn’t actually finish the battle. _Anyway.”_ The boy cleared his throat, “Since you’re here now, does that mean you aren’t busy any more??”

Enzan glanced down at his melting sundae. Up at Netto again. Was he being purposefully obtuse? “I actually am rather fond of this place. Clearing up the incident with Ms. Millionaire left me with a block of free time. Of course I’m going to use it before my next appointment. Inviting you along was a courtesy.”

“Netto…” Rockman exhaled again, shaking his head. Netto sulked as Rockman took over. “Enzan—what Netto is trying to say, if you aren’t busy, we’d like to ask for your help. As ICP’s Vice president you keep track of major researchers correct? Like Netto’s father?”

…interesting… He nodded. “ICP keeps an eye on all projects that could become relevant to our interests. Hikari Yuuichirou’s work with materialization is one of them. Why?”

“What about an Alexander Light?”

…Doctor Light? What about him?

“…ICP’s focus is more on hardware rather than software.” Enzan began slowly, “But…I did consult his work when I was programming Blues. Quite heavily. Most of the framework behind net navi AI springs from Doctor Light and…Hikari Tadashi’s joint research.”

“ _Even grampa?!”_ Enzan stopped at the strangled exclamation, but Netto didn’t offer any more, almost visibly clamming up and blatantly pretending to be uninterested. He regarded the boy thoughtfully. Interesting. As far as Enzan knew, Netto had never shown any inclination toward netEngineering before. His father had been the one to build Rockman, even.

“We’re kinda looking for him. Beef said he’d gone back to Amerope after visiting Japan. Since we have to leave for Kingland tomorrow…well, we were hoping you might have an idea of where to check first. The incident with Ms. Millionaire ate up more time than we’d expected.”

“Interesting…” Enzan almost felt like purring. He glanced down at Blues, “Tell my father I’m delaying my flight to Namaste.”

“Of course, Enzan.” The NetNavi’s response was metered and instant, but Enzan could tell in the slight tilt to Blues’ helmet that he was curious too.

“What? Why?” Netto blurted out.

“I can find Light for you, Netto.” Enzan began, picking up his spoon again. Even mostly melted he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. It also felt nice…not to have the pressing weight of appointments on his back. The R&D team in Namaste would likely enjoy the extra day. It was just a routine inspection. “But I will be joining you for the meeting.”

“But _whhhhy?”_

“I’m…curious.” Enzan began slowly, turning his reasoning over in his mind. “Plus, something has been bothering me since Pharaohman. Who better to ask than someone involved in his creation?”

“ _Involved—”_

…was that a squeak?

Netto gulped under the unimpressed look Enzan shot him. He didn’t know? “Isn’t that why you are looking for him?”

“No! I mean—It’s a family thing, Enzan!”

…even more interesting. Enzan hadn’t aware Light had _any_ relatives.

But…Enzan was _used_ to negotiations. He knew exactly which chips he held. Netto further wilted under his smile.

“Would you like my help? Or not?”

“Netto—”

Pout turned into a half grin. “Damn Enzan. You’re ruthless. Fine.”

Perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something I've had rattling around for years. I got back into Rockman.exe so I decided to play around with rewriting it. It'll likely be sporadic shorts as inspiration hits. I just figured it'd be nice to post them as they come!


End file.
